Wednesday, January 4, 2017

5 Major Problems for Landlords and How to Prevent Them

Being a rental property owner can be profitable and also a risky activity at a time. There are many issues that plague property owners and toss fear into the hearts who want to be the landlord. But don’t worry every rental problem has a solution.

Here are the 5 major problems that most of the landlords will eventually experience, along with the ways to prevent them.

Loss of Rental Income

Landlords can lose their rental income for rent default, tenant hold-over and vacant property for rent. To reduce vacancy you need to list your vacant units for rent at least 60 days prior to the end of the current lease. You need to screen tenants carefully to filter deadbeat or scammer on the property. Terminate the tenants immediately who does not pay their rent regularly with proper notice. You should be careful about the local eviction process and be ready to file the paper works after lease termination.

Property Management

Keep your property up to date and manage well. Your property can be damaged by the following reasons:

Cleanliness of Tenants

Destruction of property intentionally or unintentionally

Violence issues

Tenants lying to you

Unfaithful tenants

Illegal drug use

To resolve these issues you have to be careful about property management. Visit your rental property at least once per month. You should consider listing tenants cleaning responsibilities. Do not afraid to call the cops if there are any issues. Find a local landlord-tenant lawyer to prevent any law issues. Monitor and screen your tenants carefully. Collect your rent time to time.

Tenant Turnover

Finding new tenants can be a hard and sensitive activity. If you are looking for new tenants start earlier when the property is still occupied. Schedule showing your rental property back to back after every 30 minutes. Probably you should consider putting some advertisement for your property.

Repairs

Act fast if there’s any need of repairs. It can make you a good landlord. Buy a handy tool box and keep it in your trunk to repair some minor issues. If there’s any big issue hire a professional. You may consider hiring a property manager to monitor your property and perform a repair if needed.

Be Respectful to the Laws

Be respectful to the rental laws. Don’t try to avoid laws because you can get away with it for a while but eventually, it will catch up to you. Learn the laws properly. You may consider joining to a local landlord association, rental property association or investor association to build a network with other landlords.

Proper Insurance

The most important part is getting a proper landlord insurance for your rental property. Most of the landlords suffer financial losses for not getting a proper landlord protection insurance. Try to take insurance for your every property from the same insurance provider to get a better rate. A landlord insurance can cover all of your financial losses including rent default and damages to your property caused by tenants, nature or third persons.

If you stick to all the advice mentioned above you can surely avoid the problems that landlords face most of the time and you can set a good example of a landlord.